Byzantine Bronze Oil Lamp

A lamp such as this might have lit homes at the dawn of the Christian era. A metaphor of joy and prosperity, for hope, for life itself, lamps have illuminated the path of civilization for centuries. They have guided great thoughts through the night, stood vigil with lonely passions. In the presence of this simple object, we are in touch directly with a vanished world, with the people once warmed by its glow. Today it remains as an enduring symbol of man’s desire to conquer the darkness. This particular lamp’s discus flows effortlessly into its shoulders creating an amorphous design. The upper half of this oil lamp has a simplistic raised-line pattern that draws the eye to the filling hole and the wick hole, or mouth, respectively. These impressions were practical as well as decorative, as they would catch any spilled oil. – (LK.342)